Playdough – Lonely Superstar

Playdough is a completely underrated emcee. For the most part, he’s dismissed because he’s got a pretty heavy Christian lean to his sound. He runs with Deepspace 5, one of the predominant Christian hip hop crews around.

Lonely Superstar, the first album I heard from Playdough is actually a solid performance. The religious tones are not obvious to the point of feeling suffocating, and his flow is both melodic and and creative.

The production value of Lonely Superstar is one of the things that draws me to it. It doesn’t sound at all overproduced, and in fact there is a pretty diverse range of sounds. With that being said, there are some consistent elements, including an emphasis on what sounds like short electric guitar samples.

If you’re in the mood to do some investigating, I strongly suggest Seeds of Abraham for it’s flow, and You Will Listen for the beat. The whole album is a great performance and one that shouldn’t be ignored just because of the religious tint.

Here’s 5-Cent Needleheads from the album Lonely Superstar.

Just to give you a little taste, here is Saddle Up off his later album, Don’t Drink the Water. Not my favourite, but it does show some progression in his style.